a three-decker
Preserved but no longer current.
Properly, a sailing ship having three decks, a warship carrying guns on three decks, but applied to 9ther triplicates, such as the ola-fashioned pulpit, reading-desk, and clerk's desk arranged one above the other; and to the three-volume novel — the usual way of publishing fiction in most of the 19th century up to about 1895.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “a three-decker” mean?
Properly, a sailing ship having three decks, a warship carrying guns on three decks, but applied to 9ther triplicates, such as the ola-fashioned pulpit, reading-desk, and clerk's desk arranged one above the other; and to the three-volume novel — the usual way of publishing fiction in most of the 19th century up to about 1895.
Is “a three-decker” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.